Samba composer Joao Roberto Kelly became a media star in the 1970s, hosting a musical variety show called "Rio De Samba," while continuing to write his own material. The television program hosted a wide variety of guests and was a focal point for the explosive pagode samba revival of the 'Seventies... In a Merv Griffin-like way, Kelly also recorded a number of albums, showcasing his piano playing and some surprisingly rootsy samba. There's a poppish tint to his work, but the roots remain true... Here's a quick look at his work.
Joao Roberto Kelly "Balanco Espetacular" (Mocambo Records, 1961) (LP)
Joao Roberto Kelly "Balanco Espetacular" (Copacabana Records, 1962) (LP)
Joao Roberto Kelly "...E As Vocalistas" (Musicolor/Continental Records, 1962) (LP)
Joao Roberto Kelly "E Os Garotos Da Bossa" (Discos Rozemblit/Discos Familia, 196-?) (LP)
Joao Roberto Kelly & Luiz Reis "Samba Em Quatro Maos" (RCA Victor, 1964) (LP)
A brisk, bouncy set of poppy samba duets with an informal, almost goofball vibe that suggests a long stint as a nightclub act. Both Kelly and Reis were pianists and composers; Reis seems to have written mostly with Haroldo Barbosa, while Kelly composed alone. Regardless, this is a fun, lively album, with a sprightly feel, totally independent of the artistic weightiness of the bossa nova and MPB scenes. Fun rhythm section, too, with a strong Cuban feel to the percussion. Definitely worth checking out.
Joao Roberto Kelly "Times Squares" (RCA Victor, 1965) (LP)
Joao Roberto Kelly "My Fair Show" (Copacabana Records, 1965) (LP)
Joao Roberto Kelly "Samba Na Paroquia" (Musidisc, 1970) (LP)
Joao Roberto Kelly "Um Piano Sobe O Morro" (Tapecar, 1973) (LP)
A lively, perky set, showcasing Kelly's brisk, playful piano alongside a group called Os Pagodeiros Nota 10, which featured solid '70s-style samba percussion and a keening vocal chorus. It's surprisingly rootsy and very much of a piece with the pagode scene of the time, with dips into less animated pop-ballads material. Overall, a nice one!
Joao Roberto Kelly "Joao Roberto Kelly" (EMI-Odeon, 1974) (LP)
This is a very '70s-ish pop album, more disco-y AOR than samba-cancao. There's a lot of tinkly electric keyboard throughout, providing the main accompaniment to this low-key, mainstream pop album, along with some saccharine string arrangements. The standout track is a topical novelty song, "Hippie De Boutique," which has funny lyrics and a bouncy, goofball arrangement. Otherwise, this is a fairly negligible record, kinda cheesy and watered-down. It's okay, nothing super-special, though.
Joao Roberto Kelly/Various Artists "...Apresenta Rio Da Samba" (1977) (LP)
A souvenir album of the Rio Da Samba TV variety show, hosted by samba composer Joao Roberto Kelly... Judging from the cover art, the show featured a fair amount of booty-shaking; from the set list, it seems to have had a lot of talent on it as well. Guest performers include Luiz Ayrao, Paulinho da Viola, Clementina de Jesus, Joao Nogueira and others... An impressive lineup!
Joao Roberto Kelly "Joao Roberto Kelly" (Copacabana Records, 1980) (LP)
A nice, mellow, pop-samba set, very straightforward and pleasant. Although there are some modern production touches, mostly this is quite nice, and richly traditional. All but two of the songs are Kelly's own original compositions, and he croons them with a perfect, velvet ease, his modest, reedy voice wrapped around the lyrics, caressing each phrase lovingly before letting it go... Not the most dazzling or magical record of its kind, but essentially a nice, low-key album. I like it, although mostly just the first half of the record -- Side Two has a lot of slower songs, and these ballads do get kind of drippy.
Joao Roberto Kelly "Happy Hour" (CID, 1998)
A brisk, sleek, easy set covering standards such as "One Note Samba" and some North American stuff. Kelly's still got his facility with the ivories, but this is purty darn lounge-y. You gotta be in the mood for it, I guess, although there's nothing overtly icky about it -- no drippy string sections, synths or rampant overproduction, just Kelly's piano and a simple, spare backing band.
Joao Roberto Kelly & Carlos Bianchini "Existe Solucao Salmos E Proverbios Em Espirito Em Verdade"
A collaboration with pastor Carlos Bianchini, apparently with Kelly providing a musical setting for various sermons and adaptations of psalms and such... Anyone know when this was made or for what label?
The Copacabana Municipal Orchestra "Carnival In Rio: 1965" (Kapp Records, 1965) (LP)
Joao Roberto Kelly contributes a couple of songs to this faux-Carnaval souvenir album, as does Lobo de Oliveira. In all honesty, this record was a lot more fun -- and somewhat less earthy -- than I had expected. The opening notes of a brass-and snare drum marching band made me cringe in anticipation of some brisk police association-type recording, but soon a more engaging pop-rock undercurrent set in, imbuing these "prize winning songs of the Carnival in Rio" with a groovy exploitation-music feel, weaving prefab, Beatles-y ye-ye teenybopper rock riffs into reasonably robust street samba rhythms. It feels resolutely fake and manufactured, but it a good way. None of the musicians are identified by name, though the "Copacabana Singers And Chorus" included a few perky gal singers who were probably recruited straight off the Jovem Guarda TV show, as well as what seems to be a real samba drum bloco driving things along. Though the album title implies that these were songs drawn from the annual samba school parades, the modest liner notes inform us that these songs came from some sort of songwriting contest, but again, it's a little dubious. The set list is peppered with tunes like "Mulata Ye Ye Ye" and "Garota Monokini," songs I strongly doubt were originally blasted off of parade floats, or even featured in any of the actual MPB songwriting contests. There also seems to be some "ringers" by old-school samba composers that may have actually been part of that year's celebrations... Whether there was a Brazilian edition of this album, I'm not sure, though I'm reasonably confident this was actually recorded in Brazil. At any rate, I thought it was a fun, goofy album, one that doesn't really fit in the established tracks of the contemporary Brazilian scene(s) and in some ways is even more fun as a a result.
